The Valley of Gwangi
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Movie Reviews of The Valley of Gwangi
Movie Review: Ray Ray Ray Ray Ray!
Summary: 5 Stars
James Fransicus can't act. He tries hard though and that's a good thing. It's fun watching him try and try. But he doesn't matter, just like a preacher matters not in church during the rapture... there is no preacher at that point, is there? And the rapture in the case of Valley of the Gwangi is the last half of the movie when all the cowboys, Fransiscus one of them, gets chased by Harryhausen's dinosaurs. The meanest of these prehistoric nasties is a big purple T-Rex. He's related to Barney, perhaps; I haven't seen that many other purple dinosaurs... But this is no Barney... He's a mean motorscooter and it's just amazing seeing this Rex battle cowboys and one scene in particular that's very, very nice is when the cowboys actually pull off lassoing this big purple brute, sticking him in a cage, and bringing him back "home". Then they take him to town and display him in front of many people (in a bull ring) and he gets mad and breaks free and reeks havoc ala King Kong. Mean Purple Dino even battles a Harryhausen elephant that looks fantastic. There's also a small horse in the film that's the size of a toy, and it's a little corny, but it doesn't matter because of Ray Harryhausen and his awesome stop-motion effects, making this flawed film into one heck of a masterpiece... as Ray does so well.Movie Review: An under-rated classic looking better than ever.
Summary: 5 Stars
When Ray Harryhausen was looking for new ideas, he came across an old script - intended for a never-made film - written by Willis O'Brien (creator and animator of RKO's 'King Kong'). Wth a little re-writing, this film came into being. I remember seeing this film as a kid. Personally, I think it's still as good now as it was then. Ray Harryhausen's special effects are, as always, first-rate. The story is both interesting and exciting, contains barely a dull moment. Scenes of the cowboys riding into the forbidden valley, the little horse in its miniature stable, and the roping of the titular allosaur had stuck in my mind since I first saw this film. Combining a western with a dinosaur movie was certainly a master-stroke. The human characters are interesting, as are the dinosaurs - you really do feel sympathy for Gwangi at the finale. The soundtrack is excellent, and the backgrounds are atmospheric and dramatic. Besides this film, now looking better than ever, this DVD also contains an interesting look at the making of Gwangi, including interviews with Ray Harryhausen himself. This is recommended whether you're a fan of dinosaurs or monster movies in general.Movie Review: I just love this movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've seen clips of Gwangi since I was just a little kid, and everytime it made me want to see it. I could never find it, and now I finally have.
Since I hadn't seen more than some scenes of Gwangi fighting cowboys, dinosaurs etc. I didn't really know much about it. I knew the claymation dinosaurs would be fantastic, but I wasn't sure about the storyline. I expected it to be terrible and not even worth a laugh, but it had more substance than I had thought. Of course it was still funnier than serious, but after watching it a few times, I sorta got a new view of this film. It's all visuals, i knew that, but I hadn't realized how good and how smooth the claymation FX were. The storyline was nothing special. But the way Ray Harryhausen brang Gwangi and all the other creatures to life was amazing. After exploring more about the making of this film, I was even more bewildered at how they did the lassoing sequence, and Gwangi's transport box.
If your a sci fi movie fan that loves Harryhausen's work and doesn't mind some crazy cowboys thrown into the mix, you should buy it, despite the prices!
Movie Review: Really Holds Up for Modern Viewer
Summary: 5 Stars
The wide screen image is fantastically sharp for a vintage film. "Gwangi" unimaginably succeeds to make a mash-up of a cowboy love story and prehistoric monster movie. It's not all easy viewing either -- these creatures fight to the death, and the sounds of distressed and dying monsters (as well as a circus elephant) are really wrenching. This is underscored at the end, when, as in "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms", the titular monster exits in a death struggle amongst flaming wreckage. Gwangi dies in a burning Catholic cathedral, and the human characters show sympathetic emotion for the suffering creature. It's clear that Harryhausen had a real sympathy for the passing of the Age of Reptiles, and managed to communicate it to the script writers and production crews he worked with. Postscript: Gila Golan adds some beauty as counterpoint to the beast. Her interesting life story is worth searching on the Internet.Movie Review: Get in touch with your inner forbidden valley.
Summary: 5 Stars
The Valley of Gwangi is not a good "A" grade movie. It's not even a good "B" grade movie. But it is a fantastic "C" grade movie (the cinematic province of directors such as Ed Wood). Come to it with the right expectations and you'll not be dissappointed in this tale of Cowboys battling Dinosaurs in a turn of the century Mexico crawling with Spanish, Flamenco playing Gypsies (How did the Gypsies get here? Originally the story was supposed to be located in Spain, and they survived the rewrites that relocated it to Mexico.) The film is also significant in that it forms part of special-effects wizard Ray Harryhousen's body of stop-motion animated features.